Event Blog: Reflections and Update from Covenant House Sleep Out 2023

 

Update from Covenant House Illinois(CHIL) Sleep Out 2023

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to express my sincere gratitude to our exceptional Accenture and CHIL team. I had the privilege of joining several colleagues to sleep outside on November 16th, 2023, marking my fourth year participating in this meaningful event. The inspiring stories and experiences shared by the youths at Covenant House reaffirmed my commitment to doing more. This event provides a glimpse into the innovative programs and future plans that Covenant House is developing to support homeless youth. Beyond providing essential shelter and food, Covenant House offers mental health counseling, vocational training, legal assistance, and other crucial services that empower these young individuals to reclaim their lives and lead dignified futures.

I deeply appreciate your unwavering support, encouragement, and generous contributions to my fundraising efforts. With your help, I am nearing my goal, but I still need your assistance. Please consider donating to support this worthy cause:

https://mygivingaccenture.yourcause.com/public#/fundraising/23768

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of these vulnerable young people.

Event Blog: Update from First Maven Live Event, Chicago - 16th March 2023

 

It was a great evening listening to General David H. Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), on various topics including but not limited to strategic leadership, decision-making, security, etc. Find More about the event and video here.

Encounter with chatGPT

 

I've been playing with chatGPT for the past couple of weeks. While it offers vast capabilities, it also highlights the limitations of the language model architecture, training datasets, and prompts. I've experimented with it, and you can see the entertaining conversation between the machine and me, which even cleared a Wharton MBA final exam!

If you haven't tried chatGPT yet, here's a quick overview(Thanks to chatGPT 😀) :

• ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model developed by OpenAI that generates human-like text in response to user prompts.

• It's built on the transformer architecture and fine-tuned on a large text corpus for coherent and contextually appropriate responses.

• It can be used for various NLP tasks, such as answering questions, generating text, and translating languages.

• The transformer architecture is favored for NLP because it can efficiently process sequential data. Models like GPT-3, BERT, and RoBERTa also use this architecture.

I need to explore and understand more about this technology. Exciting times!

My 2023 Learning Plan

At the start of 2023, I made a list of things to learn, inspired by my colleagues, clients, and friends. It includes reading books, better understanding the industry and new technology skills, and earning external certifications. Please see my 2023 Learning plan here.

• Read 10 books  - I have created a list of recommended titles in various genres, including autobiographies, innovative thinking, and motivational books. I plan to read/listen a few pages per day or week to stay on track. I will include "Bhagavad Gita" on the list every year as I try to apply the lessons from this masterpiece in my daily life.
• Advance my skills in cloud and data –  I will enroll in external certification programs relevant to my career goals, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Snowflake, and Databricks certifications.
• Enhance my understanding of Insurance Industry Innovations – To enhance my knowledge of AI-led innovations in insurance underwriting and claims, I plan to attend industry conferences and seminars, read industry publications and blogs, and network with other professionals in the field.
• As an early adopter of chatGPT, explore the potential uses of this technology in the insurance industry. Collaborate with other industry professionals and share your insights with colleagues and peers.

Nappuccino, Pre-Mortem, Mumbai Dabbawalas, Midpoint Spark, and other lessons

 

https://www.amazon.com/When-Scientific-Secrets-Perfect-Timing/dp/B076MBR89W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Z9OKNF26SFD1&keywords=when+daniel+pink&qid=1676438189&sprefix=when+daniel%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-1

Leadership Lessons from the book “When – The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” by Daniel Pink.

At the start of 2023, I made a list of things to learn, inspired by my colleagues, clients, and friends. It includes reading books, better understanding the industry and new technology skills, and earning external certifications. You can see my 2023 plan here.

https://anilkumarkar.blogspot.com/2023/02/my-2023-learning-plan.html

One book I've recently picked up is "When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing" by Daniel Pink, the New York Times bestselling author of "Drive" and "To Sell is Human". The author provides practical steps for WHEN to make critical decisions in life and business, explaining the science behind "Timing is Everything."

Here are some key lessons from the book:

Lesson 1 – Team building starts with belongingness.

The Mumbai Dabbawalas, who deliver 200,000 hot home-cooked meals from homes to offices daily with impeccable accuracy, are an excellent example of a tribe that thrives together. Pink cites various studies stating that belongingness leads to satisfaction, purpose, and results. A straightforward suggestion he makes for promoting belonging in your group is to respond quickly to their emails.

Lesson 2 - Pre-Mortem- prepare for the leadership role before you are there.

“The best way to recover from a false start is to avoid one in the first place.” The best way to avoid a false start is to prepare for it beforehand. Pink elaborates on the "premortem" technique, which involves preparing and visualizing yourself in the new role. During the initial days, take time to find and do one task well. Small and measurable wins will provide confidence to you and your new team. Conserve your motivation for the lean period, which will happen after the initial enthusiasm.

Lesson 3 – Turn the midpoint Slump into a spark

Business transactions, such as sales pursuits or projects, have a beginning, an ending, and a midpoint. Neglecting the midpoint can lead to a lack of interest and motivation. Pink suggests turning the midpoint slump into a spark by setting interim goals, publicly committing to them, and prioritizing your top goals.

Interesting add-ons –

• It's okay to take a 10–15-minute nap between 2-3 pm in the afternoon, as this period is typically the lowest productivity time for most people (known as the Trough). A typical day consists of Peak, Trough, and Rebound periods. Drinking a cup of coffee followed by a short nap can boost sharpness and performance, a combination that Pink refers to as the "Nappucino."
• Pink writes, "Life isn't always a competition, but it is sometimes a serial competition." If you're not the default choice and pitching against an incumbent or a small set of players, going first can help as you get a fresh look. Going later can confer a small advantage if there are many competitors, and going last can be advantageous. The last person to present gains an advantage over the initial ones as decision-makers reevaluate the baseline, which is more realistic.
• "Time flies like an arrow" is an example used by Oettinger in a 1966 Scientific American article in the initial days of natural language interpretation, well before the creation of ChatGPT!

Event Blog: Reflection and Update from the Covenant House Sleep Out 2022

 

Date: 17th Nov 2022

I joined several Accenture, Chicago colleagues to sleep outside yesterday night in freezing cold(17˚F/-8˚C), snow, and wind. I could barely sleep for a few hours, but it was worth the pain and experience to show our support and solidarity with the youths who had to experience this daily. I am proud and thankful to have your encouragement and support.

It was eye-opening to know the several other wrap-around services provided by Covenant House Illinois beyond providing shelter and food. Those include but are not limited to mental health, training, legal, and other services essential to help the youths get back to the mainstream and lead a life with respect.

I genuinely appreciate your support, encouragement, and generous contribution to my fundraiser. I exceeded my personal fundraising goal of $10,000! THANK YOU.

I am grateful to my fellow sleepers for making it a wonderful evening and believing in this cause! 

My son joined me this time and raised funds. He exceeded his personal fundraising goal of $500. Please see my Q&A with Covenant House here -> A Q&A with long-time Sleep Out participant: Anil Kar (covenanthouseil.org)

Covenant House Q&A - 2022 Sleep Out

This Q&A was published on the Covenant House IL website here -> A Q&A with long-time Sleep Out participant: Anil Kar (covenanthouseil.org)